RAT TRAP
by Spirit Burner AKA Chick Feed
Summary: Everyone is afraid of something, even Hunters.
1. Chapter 1

Supernatural – I don't own them and it makes me very sad : (

Title – from the song "Rat Trap" by the Boomtown Rats

**WARNING : Rated "T" for persistent swearing and animal deaths**

_A.N. It is with great embarrassment that I have to confess that the trigger for this story and much content of the second chapter was a real life event involving myself and my colleague (who is also my so called "friend")._

_The real thing took place in an open plan "L" shaped office and involved HUGE bloody big spiders who seemed determined to get me. My "friend" was useless, laughing at my panic so hard they had to go pee! I can honestly say that jumping onto a swivel chair without falling straight off again is not easy! _

_One day I might speak to my friend again, but not yet. Lol._

_Also, just to clarify, in real life I cannot tolerate __**any**__ kind of animal abuse and have no problem with rats._

**IT'S A RAT TRAP, AND YOU'VE BEEN….CAUGHT!**

**Everyone is afraid of something, no matter how daft that fear may seem to others.**

**1.**

"Why do they do it?"

"Why does which who do what Dean?"

"High school idiots. Why do they all get the urge to go full steam ahead into the nearest deserted building, most often in the middle of the night?"

"To make out? A dare? To act like a brave and fearless warrior for their girlfriends? Because, until they come to places like this, they all think they are pretty much immortal? Because the press tells them a place might be haunted? Because they think bad things only happen to other people? I really don't know Dean, but I guess they will always do it.

"Maybe it's a teenage hormone thing? You and me, we were generally in these places 'cos Dad took us. _We_ always ended up in deserted buildings somewhere because there was a job that needed doing."

"Yeah, but we also had the benefit of knowing that scary shit and the monsters in your nightmares actually existed."

"These kids know that as well….at least they do now anyways. Or rather, they did, briefly. Trouble is, when you're dead 'cos your dumb enough voluntarily go places you should be avoiding, it's kinda tricky to pass the "_don't go there"_ message on to your friends. Places like this should really be made to put big signs outside that say things like _Here There be Werewolves and all Teenagers Taste Good. _Health and Safety, you know?"

Sam's torch picked out the door which the building plan had shown as being the door leading to the basement of the deserted office block where the brothers were currently sneaking around,

"I'm not so sure signs like that would help. They'd probably take it as a challenge. Anyway, it would have to be a pretty long warning sign for this place. What is it so far? Five deaths, five different causes of death recorded?"

"Yup. Snake bite, spider venom, wild dog attack, bee stings…What was the other one?"

"Drowning, when the basement somehow flooded. The door's ahead. You ready?"

"Always Sammy. Always."

Not sure what they might be facing, the brothers armed themselves with a standard range of options. Dean choosing a pistol and silver bullets, Sam grabbing the shot gun loaded with rock salt. Both carried metal hip flasks filled with holy water. Sam stared into his duffle bag,

"I've got a spell book, chalk and a flask of oil in here. Got your lighter on you?"

Dean patted the pockets of his leather jacket, pulling his lighter out of his chest pocket and flicking it to make sure it was working,

"Present and working. We good to go?"

Sam nodded and opened the door, a short square concrete landing lead onto a flight of stairs which ran down into the darkness. As Sam moved forward, Dean grabbed his arm and firmly pulled him back,

"Hey. I'm going first."

"For goodness sake Dean!"

"I said, I'm going first."

Sam sighed and stepped back, waving his brother ahead. Dean paused on the landing, brushing his hand over the wall to his left until he felt a light switch. Flicking it, the dim glow of one electric bulb buzzed and popped on at the bottom of the stairs, spiders disturbed by the light scurried back into their webs.

As Dean descended he began to see the layout and contents of the basement. It looked to be one large "L" shaped area. Some old broken metal filing cabinets stood against one wall, most of them covered in graffiti, including the usual _(insert name) woz 'ere. _Two old wooden office desks took up the central space in the basement, shoved together to face each other. The top of the desks held two old beer glasses, both brimming over with cigarette ends, along with various discarded candy wrappings. A number of tattered swivel chairs were positioned around the desks. Other old desks, chairs and miscellaneous bits of discarded and broken office equipment were scattered randomly around the area. One particular area had obviously been designated the trash dump, primarily consisting of empty coke cans, empty cider bottles, and McDonalds packaging.

The brothers slowly walked further into the basement, Dean nudged Sam, a nod of his head directing Sam's gaze to the back of the smaller off shot area of the "L" shaped space where a single mattress lay on the floor. Sam grimaced as he looked at the dirt, discarded syringes and the suspect patches of staining ingrained in the whole mattress,

"Jeeze. That's just gross."

Dean had already moved on, his focus on three full looking plastic rubbish sacks shoved under a desk which was positioned against a wall. He dragged the first two bags out from under the desk and bent down to reach for the third, giving it a tug he began to pull this one out into the open,

"_**Arrrrgh! Fuck! Fuck! Shit!"**_

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	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING REMINDER : Persistent swearing and animal deaths.**

**2.**

Sam turned in time to see Dean take three steps back from the desk he had been stood near before he then span on his heel and raced for the wall furthest away from it. The look of horror on Dean's face as he hurtled past Sam told Sam that something had seriously freaked his brother out. He watched in stunned amazement as Dean jumped onto the only thing in his line of direction which took him off floor level, and then desperately tried to steady himself on the office swivel chair by slapping both palms against the wall.

"Dean! What the….? What's wrong?"

Dean managed to turn his body until his back was flat against the wall. He pointed a trembling finger toward the refuse sacks,

"**RAT! **Fucking_** huge**_ rat. Do something Sam! Fucking squish it!"

Sam sucked his bottom lip in, trying to stop himself laughing,

"Where was it?"

"Where do you think numb nuts? _Over there!_ I was getting the last refuse bag and it jumped onto it from behind the bag. Do something! _Fuck!"_

"Ok, ok. Calm down."

Sam went over to where Dean had indicated and pulled the refuse sack all the way out from under the desk. He was just in time to see the tip of the rat's tail disappear into a small hole in the wall. He straightened up and turned to Dean,

"It's ok now. It's gone."

"Whadya mean, it's gone? Gone where?"

"It went down a hole."

"Down a…? _Fuck_ Sam. That's not gone, is it? That's just…..in a hole. It could come back out of the fucking hole anytime it wants!"

"But it won't. I'm telling you, it's gone and it's not going to come back, you can get down off your chair now."

"_Like fuck!_ I don't believe you. You're lying to me. I bet there isn't a hole."

"Dean. I swear. It's gone."

"Lemme see. If you're kidding you're dead. Right?"

"Get down off your chair and see for yourself."

Dean carefully clambered off the swizzle chair, still muttering to himself. Sam couldn't stop the smile which began to spread across his face as he watched his brother tip toe towards where the rat had been, his eyes scanning the floor,

"What hole? You're lying. There isn't a hole."

Sporting a wide grin, Sam stood beside his brother and pointed to a small hole in the wall.

"See? I knew it Sam. You_** are**_ lying to me. There's no way that_** huge**_ rat managed to fit down that teeny tiny hole!"

"How big was it?"

Dean held his hands around 36 inches apart,

"And that doesn't include the damn tail. It was huge, and black. It was _King_ fucking rat and it cannot have got down that hole."

Sam shrugged,

"Well. It did, and I can't do anything about it."

Dean glanced around, then picked up an empty tin can. Squashing it he tentatively bent and shoved the can into the hole to block it, ignoring Sam's laughter. Dean straightened up, looking satisfied with his great idea,

"Ok. If it's in there, which I still don't believe it is, it can't get out again."

"There's probably other holes Dean."

"_Unhelpful!"_

Dean stalked off towards the old filing cabinets, leaving Sam to face emptying out the refuse sacs. He yanked open the top drawer of the first cabinet he came to,

"_**SHIT! Fucking SHIT!"**_

Sam turned to see Dean carry out an Olympic leap onto one of the desks in the middle of the basement,

"Dean?"

"_**There!**_ In that drawer. Get it. _Kill_ it!"

Sam simply couldn't help laughing as he walked over to the offending drawer,

"_Stop_ laughing and get it!"

As Sam approached, the rat leapt out of the cabinet drawer and scurried across the floor passing him on route,

"_**Sam!**_ For chrissake. It went that way!"

Following Dean's directions Sam saw the rat heading towards the basement off-shot, yanking his jacket off he ran after it,

"_What the hell are you doing?"_

"I'm going to trap it and take it upstairs."

Both Sam and the rat disappeared around the corner,

"Take it up…? Jeeze Sam. Just _**kill**_ the thing will you?"

"I'll let it go upstairs….._Damn!"_

"Damn? Damn what? Sam?"

"Missed it. It's gone."

"Gone how?"

"I can't see it."

"So, again, it's not gone is it? Just 'cos you're too blind to see it, that doesn't make it gone. Look for it will you! _Unbelievable!"_

"It's gone under the mattress."

"Under the….? _**So move the mattress for fuck's sake!"**_

"Dean, I am not touching this friggin' mattress!"

Dean checked the floor around himself carefully before jumping down off the desk and hurrying to find Sam,

"Get out the way. You're _useless_! I'll deal with the little shit."

Dean stepped onto the mattress and began to madly bounce up and down on it. Sam clamped a hand over his mouth trying hard to contain his laughter at the sight of his older brother boinging around the dirty mattress in the hopes of squashing the rat that was somewhere underneath. Tears began to run down Sam's face.

"This funny I you _kill_ not a

isn't moron tol' to it giveit

fashion

damn accessory….._**Ha!"**_

"_**Dean!**_ That's just….! Oh God. You should've let me trap it."

"You had your chance Sammy and you blew it. It's not going anywhere now though is it? It's nothing but rat pate."

Dean triumphantly walked past Sam and headed back into the main basement area, leaving Sam staring at the mattress in horror. He didn't get to stare for long,

"_**SAAAAMMMMM!"**_

Sam tilted his head back and closed his eyes,

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Dean reappeared, running up to stand behind Sam before shoving his brother forward,

"_**Kill it!"**_

Sam stared around the large basement area,

"There's nothing there Dean."

Dean scuffed Sam across the back of the head,

"Look harder! I swear it was waiting for me. They're picking on me Sam. Everywhere I go they're waiting. They're doing it on _purpose_!"

Dean watched as his brother walked out into the main area, but then he kept on walking towards the stairs, and then he began to climb up the stairs,

"_Sam_? What're you doin'? Where you goin?"

Sam turned, clearly trying to quell his giggles,

"Dude, I need some air."

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	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings still apply and will continue to do so.**

**3.**

Sam turned away and carried on to the top of the stairs. Dean watched open mouthed as Sam pushed at the door and stepped through it,

"No way! You can't just leave me here on my own….Sammy?"

He heard his brother burst into laughter again as Sam disappeared from view, letting the door swing closed again behind him,

"_**Wait!**_ _I'm coming with you!"_

Dean stared around, making sure his route was clear of rats before racing across the basement and taking the stairs two at a time to go after his brother. He reached for the door handle, and froze,

"Sam? Sam? I can't open the door. Sam?"

Dean became aware of skittering and snuffling noises coming from the basement area behind him. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and a tingle race down his spine. Slowly Dean turned to look back at the basement room,

"_Oh…..shit.."_

Sam stood outside taking in deep breaths of air. He knew how much Dean hated rats and he did feel somewhat guilty for laughing at his brother, but then he remembered the image of Dean bouncing along the mattress. That memory along with that of the combined expression on his older brother's face of both determination and fear threatened to set Sam off chuckling again and a smile began to form.

Suddenly though, Sam's slow smile stopped and quickly disappeared again, to be replaced by a worried frown.

Sam concentrated, trying to visualise in his mind's eye the newspaper reports which had lead himself and Dean to this place. He remembered reading about the 18 year old boy that had drowned. He recalled the press report stating that the boy had never learnt to swim due to his longstanding fear of water. The piece about the girl who died after being repeatedly stung by bees had mentioned that the girl was known to be highly allergic to bee stings. So much so that she carried an Epipen which she, apparently, hadn't used. Sam guessed that, knowing how severe her reaction was to being stung, the girl was very likely to have been fearful of bees. Then there was the 16 year old girl who the coroner stated had died as a result of being poisoned and who's post mortem toxicology results showed an unusually large amount of spider venom in her system. Sam didn't remember the article mentioning whether the girl had a fear of spiders, however, he _did_ know that Arachnophobia is one of the most common of all the phobias. Sam decided it wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine the girl had suffered from that particular fear. What if the boy who was attacked by dogs had a fear of dogs and the other boy, the one who had died after being bitten by at least three different species of poisonous snake, suffered from Orphidiophobia?

Sam paled and thought of Dean. His brother would rather confront a nest of vamps in the middle of the night than to knowingly walk into rat central. Panic immediately flooded throughout Sam's body, leaving his legs feeling weak,

"_Dean!"_

He'd left his brother in the basement…alone,

"_Come on Sam. Calm down and get yourself back in there."_

Fighting to control his own onslaught of fear for Dean and what might be happening to him, Sam ran back inside the building and over to the door leading to the basement. He had held onto the vague hope that he would find Dean waiting for him on this side of the door. He wasn't. Sam reached for the handle and pulled, but the door didn't budge,

"What the….?"

Sam tried again, tugging harder this time. It was very clear that the door was locked,

"Dean? Dean I can't get in. Have you locked the door?...Dean?..._**Dean**_ _**answer me!"**_

When he didn't get a response, Sam put his ear to the door. He heard….._something_,

"_**Dean! **_Please, I need you to open this door, _**right now**_!"

Sam felt his heart begin to beat faster and his anxiety increase further when there was still no reply from his brother,

"Damn it Dean! Ok…_**Dean,**_ if you can hear me, I'm going to shoot the lock."

Dean's heart skipped a beat as he made eye contact with King Rat. Nearly three times the size of the others, the jet black rat was sat up on it's haunches, red eyes looking up to the top of the stairs, focused on Dean. The creature was surrounded by thirty or so smaller brown rats who were huddled around the king. They too all had their eyes on Dean. They seemed to be waiting for something.

"_Crap. This is _**so**_ not good. Where the hell are you Sammy?"_

The black rat turned and looked around at the browns, a signal seemed to pass from him to them and the browns instantly surged forward on mass, making straight for the stairs and up towards Dean.

"Oh _**FUCK!"**_

As the rats swarmed up the stairs and, having nowhere else to go in order to escape, Dean jumped. Soaring over the mass of brown rats he hit the stairs halfway down, landing badly. Pain shot up Dean's leg as he felt his right ankle turn over at a sickeningly unnatural angle, sending him head first down the rest of the stairs. His head hit the concrete floor, hard. As he lay splayed out face down on the floor, Dean's last image before losing consciousness was that of King Rat stalking toward him, teeth bared.

Sam took aim and shot twice at the door lock, inwardly saying a small prayer of thanks to any god who might be listening as he was able to yank open the door. He stood on the small landing at the top of the stairs, and froze, trying to take in the horrifying scene that greeted him in the low light of the basement,

"Shit! _**DEAN!"**_

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	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

Dean lay on the floor of the basement, his body virtually hidden by the seething mass of brown rats crawling all over him. Sam could see blood pooling on the floor where Dean had already been bitten. It looked as though the rats were literally eating his brother alive.

As Sam stared in disbelief, he saw one of Dean's arms move slowly, as if Dean was trying to push himself up from under the heaving bodies. Sam's heart skipped a beat as Dean's arm went limp again. The sight finally broke Sam's trance like stupor and, knowing he was likely to injure Dean as well but having no other immediate option, Sam raised his shotgun,

Sam silently prayed that his brother would be protected from the worst of the impact by the bodies of the rats moving over him and squeezed the trigger. The sound of the gun firing filled the basement and the effect of the rock salt on the rats was both immediate and satisfying. Nearly half the rats disintegrated on impact, leaving no trace what-so-ever. The rest rolled or leapt screeching off Dean's body, many of them with smoke curling off their pelts where they had been caught by the salt shrapnel. Sam raced down the stairs, his only thought to get to his brother.

As he knelt by Dean, Sam's eyes took in the tattered state of Dean's clothing where it had been torn and shredded by the rats. Spots of blood merged to cover almost the whole of Deans back. Sam could see scratches and torn flesh on both of Dean's hands and rivulets of blood trailing down the back of Dean's neck,

"Jeeze, Dean."

Sam glanced around the basement, searching for any immediate threat. There were no rats to be seen, anywhere. Sam returned his attention to his stricken brother. Laying the shotgun down he gently and, as carefully as he could, rolled Dean onto his back.

As yet Sam had seen no signs to reassure him that Dean was still alive. Sam's terror that he may be too late to save Dean threatened to overtake him. Sam noted the sizable bruised bump and the long, bloody gash to the side of Dean's forehead. Moving Dean had elicited no reaction from his brother and Sam's hand shook as he reached to feel for a pulse at Dean's neck.

Sam's head dropped in relief as he found a pulse. It was rapid, but it was there. He cupped Dean's cheek in his hand,

"Dean? C'mon Dean. Wake up man, you've gotta wake up now. We've gotta get out of here."

A slight frown briefly creased Dean's forehead in response to Sam's voice, then it was gone.

"No. Not good enough brother. I need you awake."

Sam patted Dean's cheek, talking to him all the while, his tone becoming more forceful,

"_Dean_….it's me, Sam. Open your eyes. Look at me Dean…._Dean Winchester_, _I____said_ _**open your eyes!"**_

Finally Dean responded with a soft moan. Slowly he opened his eyes and tried to focus on Sam's face. He felt pang of guilt when he recognised the signs of concern and worry in Sam's expression.

"That's it Dean, look at me. I'm here. I'm sorry I left you alone man and, really, you can chew my ass for it later; but we have to go Dean."

Dean blinked hazily,

"Sam?"

"Ten out of ten. Dean. I need to get you sat up. I'm sorry if it hurts but we got no choice."

"Rat."

"I know. I shot at them and they've gone, but we have to move or they might come back."

Dean shook his head as Sam put his arm under Dean's shoulders, getting ready to sit him upright,

"No….no…._Rat_!"

Sam realised Dean was staring at a point somewhere behind Sam. He slowly turned to look at where Dean was focused; then he let go of Dean and slowly slid his hand towards the shotgun.

The rat sat watching them was the biggest Sam had ever seen. Jet black and with dark red eyes. The end of it's tail twitched, hitting the floor rhythmically. Sam found himself thinking of someone drumming their finger nails on a table top. He heard Dean's breathing getting faster, signalling Dean's increasing anxiety. Sam closed his hand around the shotgun. In one fluid movement he tuned his body to face the rat and brought the gun up, finger already pulling back the trigger as took aim, at an empty space.

Sam blinked in surprise. The rat hadn't scurried away; it simply wasn't there any more. Not about to waste time pondering, Sam turned back to Dean. He noticed the sheen of sweat standing on Dean's forehead and upper lip,

"Ok Dean. Time to go."

Dean nodded and reached up to put an arm around Sam's neck. Sam made no comment at the expression of pain on Dean's face, or the shudder that he felt go through Dean's upper body as Sam helped him into a sitting position. Once sat, Dean closed his eyes briefly and he paled as Sam watched,

"You ok?"

"Bit dizzy, s'gone now."

Sam nodded his understanding, wishing he didn't have to force Dean into movement so soon,

"Take a couple of deep breaths…you ready to stand now?"

"M' fine. Jus' wanna go."

With Sam supporting him, Dean put both feet to the floor ready to push himself upright. As he did so, he let out a sudden cry of pain as one ankle collapsed under him, sending him straight back to a seated position. He hung his head and Sam could hear the whistling sound caused by Dean pulled air in through his teeth, trying to ride the sharp, lancing pains that were shooting up the full length of his leg from his ankle.

Sam gently raised the leg of Dean's jeans. He could see dark bruising around the top of Dean's boots along with clear signs of swelling. The depth of bruising suggested the ankle was more than likely broken. Sam considered his choices, finally opting for leaving Dean's boot on in order to provide support for the ankle until they were out of the building. Sam looked at his brother,

"Dean, I think it's broke. As well as that there's a goose egg and a nasty gash on your forehead. Do you remember falling at all?"

Dean considered briefly,

"Yeah. Tried to jump down the stairs but didn't quite make it. Felt my ankle go. Don't remember anything after that but think I must've hurt my back too."

"Erm…your back?"

"Uh huh. Feels….tight, an' stingy…My clothes feel sticky. It kinda feels like someone stabbed me all over my back with a fork, then bit me round the back of my neck an'….Sam? Why you looking at me like that?...Sam?"

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	5. Chapter 5

**5.**

Sam waited, keeping an eye on Dean's colour, looking for signs of the green pallor in his brother's face to start fading back to a normal kind of pale. Dean was just sat, unblinking, staring in horror straight ahead, obviously trying to take in what Sam had just told him. Sam gave Dean a few more seconds, then stepped in to bring Dean back to the here and now,

"Dean?"

There was no acknowledgement from his brother. Sam frowned, they really didn't have time for this,

"_**Dean! Snap out of it! **_If you don't want them to come back for dessert we have to move. _**Now!"**_

Almost on cue, Sam heard the sound of sharp claws pattering across hard flooring. A split second later the same awareness exploded out of Dean in fury, fear and a string of curses. He madly scanned the floor,

"_**Where's my fucking gun?"**_

Sam looked to where the noises were coming from. Brown rats were appearing out from under one of the two desks which were sited in the centre of the basement area. Quickly the rats placed themselves in a row and hunkered down as if waiting for something. Sam noted with satisfaction that their numbers appeared depleted, but there were still a dozen of the creatures all staring at him.

"Sam. Help me stand up."

Sam side stepped toward Dean, keeping his eyes on the rats as much as he could. He positioned himself on the same side as Dean's injured ankle and reached down, clasping his brother's arm in a firm grip,

"Try to push up with your good leg and keep your weight off the other one. Did you find your gun?"

Dean grunted as he more or less used Sam as a ladder and hauled himself upright, putting his arm around Sam's waist and holding on so he could keep his injured ankle off the floor,

"No. I think it might've fell out the back of my jeans somewhere over by the mattress; you know, when I ran after you, 'cos you were leaving me….here….alone…with _them_!

"Ok Dean. I get it. It's my fault, but could you wait till we're out of here before you start to sulk? I need you to back away slowly to the bottom of the stairs. Think you can do that with me?"

"Given the alternative, yeah. I think I'll manage reverse hopping…shit."

They both stared as the black rat simply materialised out of thin air and bared his teeth at the brothers from it's position on top of the desk. Dean's hold on Sam tightened,

"That's the leader, King Rat. What the hell is he? How come he just appeared like that?"

Sam didn't answer. Letting go of Dean's arm he held the shotgun in both hands, fixing his aim on King Rat. The black rat's eyes blazed and it hissed.

As one, the brown rats began swiftly moving towards Sam and Dean. Sam immediately switched targets and fired two rapid shots at the line of browns. The room was instantly filled with the shrill squeals and screeching of those rats who were caught in the blast. The smell of burning fur and flesh made Dean's stomach churn and he gypped.

The black rat raised itself up on it's hind legs, screaming and spitting in anger. Once again it urged the remaining brown rats forward and, after a fraction's hesitation, they ran at the brothers,

"Dean! Back to the stairs. _Move it_!"

Dean tried to hop backwards whilst still using Sam as a support, his movements awkward. Out of frustration he loosened his grip on Sam and tried again to put his injured foot to the floor. The sheer intensity of the lightening bolts of pain flaring up from his ankle caused Dean to cry out and fall to the floor, landing on his hands and knees.

"_**Dean!"**_

Seeing Dean fall, the black rat leapt.

It hit the floor once and immediately sprang again, aiming straight for Dean's face,

"_Get down!"_

Dean threw himself to one side, covering his head. Sam, grasping the shotgun tightly in both hands, turned his body sideways and swung the gun like a baseball bat. He felt the gun barrel connect with the rat's body just before the rat disappeared again.

Still laid on his side on the floor, Dean looked up at his brother with eyebrows raised,

"Ok…That was different!"

Sam turned to confront the remaining browns who were now simply milling around in apparent confusion,

"I don't care if you hop, skip, crawl or butt shuffle Dean, just get yourself up those stairs while I cover you. Anything gets by me, use your holy water. _Now go!"_

Sam tried to block out the sound of Dean's grunts of pain and quiet cursing as his brother worked to sit himself upright and began shuffling himself backwards to the bottom of the stairs. The brown rats stopped their sniffing and wandering around to watch Dean. Their focus shifting between their target and Sam,

"_Balls to this!"_

Sam aimed and fired, once again smelling the acrid scent of burnt fur and scorched skin. All that was left of the pack was a single brown. Without another glance at the brothers, the creature turned and ran, scurrying under the central desks and disappearing into the shadows.

Dean's breath hitched as another jolt of pain lanced out from his ankle despite the fact that he was pushing himself backwards using only his good leg. The awkward style of moving put an additional strain on his back, tearing open those wounds which were covered in caked on blood, starting them bleeding afresh. His head was pounding to the extent that he felt sick. The bites and scratches on his hands were made worse as he put most of his weight onto his hands each time he pushed backwards.

As his back jolted against the bottom step he rested for a second, the sweat from his exertions dripping off his nose and forehead. The room seemed to change shape, as if he were viewing it through a fish eye lens. Dean squeezed his eyes closed, shaking his head before opening them again to find Sam squatting down at his side,

"You look like shit."

"Feel like it too. You get them?"

"All except one brown. It's gone into hiding."

"What about King Rat?"

Sam shrugged,

"Let's get you standing, then I can help you up the stairs, ok?"

Dean nodded. Sam stood himself on the bottom step behind Dean, hooking his arms under Dean's he hauled his brother upright, apologising when he heard Dean's sharp moan of pain.

"Just get us outta here Sammy."

Using one hand to grip the stair rail, Dean slung his other arm across the back of Sam's shoulders. Sam for his part put his arm around Dean's waist, providing additional support. Keeping his injured foot and ankle lifted off the floor, Dean braced himself ready to hop as best he could up the stairs.

The brothers had made it two steps up when they both felt a vague ripple of air pass between them. Dean let go of the stair rail, putting his hand in his pocket and beginning to unscrew the lid from the flask which nestled there. Unconsciously both men held their breath, waiting.

Dean gave a slight jerk of his head, directing Sam's gaze to the small landing at the top of the stairway and muttered,

"There."

Sam looked up. The black rat peered back down at them, it's eyes narrowing, it's lips curling back to reveal long yellowed incisors. Sam kept his voice to a low murmur,

"Is it just me, or does Ratatouille look like he's smiling to you?"

Before Dean could answer, the rat flicked it's head to the left and then to the right. As it did, two more black rats materialised on either side of it. The four newcomers looking like clones of the centre rat. Dean sighed,

"Well….at least we know what the sonofabitch was smiling about."

Without taking his eyes of the rats, Sam's grip on Dean's waist tightened,

"How're you doing?"

Dean's gaze also remained fixed on the rats who were now sat, perfectly still, staring at the brothers as though daring them to move. Dean continued to keep his voice low,

"Honestly?"

Dean very cautiously and slowly took his hand out of his pocket, gripping the now open flask of holy water casually in his hand. Breaking eye contact with the rats he turned to look at Sam. At the same time, his other arm still slung across Sam's shoulder, he tapped Sam on the clavicle with one finger,

"Right now I'm feeling….."

He tapped Sam again, using two fingers,

"….really….._**really**_…."

Third tap, three fingers,

"…._**PISSED OFF!"**_

As Dean raised his voice, the rats leapt as one.

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	6. Chapter 6

**6.**

Dean gripped tighter onto Sam's shoulder, at the same time raising the flask of holy water and flicking his wrist to send a horizontal arch of water into the air at the oncoming rats. The instant the water left the flask he dropped it and grasped the stair rail, releasing his grip on his brother's shoulder Dean dropped to his knees, making himself as small as he could against the spindles.

As Sam felt Dean's hand let go of his shoulder, he released his own hold from around Dean's waist and shot a round of rock salt into the oncoming bodies before flattening himself against the stair wall.

The high pitched shrieks of the rats as they were caught either by holy water, rock salt, or both made the brothers cringe and screw their eyes closed as the sound seemed to ricochet around inside their heads. Then there was total silence.

The brothers opened their eyes and looked across at each other before scanning around to check the impact of their efforts.

The stairs in front of them dripped wet with water, granules of rock salt gleamed in the low lighting, clumps slowly dissolved where they lay in the water. There was no sign of any rats, dead or otherwise. Dean frowned,

"What the f...?"

Sam glanced back at the basement floor, again seeing no sign of dead or injured rats. He shrugged and looked back at Dean,

"Who knows? We'll figure it out later. Let's just go, before they decide to try again."

Dean nodded and tried to pull himself up using the stair rail. His adrenalin peak subsiding, he cried out and sat back down on the step with a thud as a symphony of aches, soreness and pain reminded him of his numerous injuries. His head pounded and he felt totally exhausted. Sam noticed Dean's eyes closing and his body starting to become limp,

"Oh no you don't! Not yet."

He was quickly at Dean's side,

"Come on dude, suck it up. I can't carry your ass up these stairs so you either work with me, or I leave you here as rat bait."

Wearily Dean opened his eyes and reached out to grab onto Sam,

"Bitch."

"That's right brother. Live with it."

By the time the two brother's stumbled out into the night air, Sam was having to take most of Dean's weight,

"Come on. Not far now, you're doing good."

Dean shook his head,

"Need to stop. Hurts. Dizzy."

Sam gave in,

"Ok. I'm going to sit you down and I'll bring the car over."

"Thanks Sammy."

No sooner had Sam managed to get Dean sat on a grassed area, Dean laid down and closed his eyes, wincing as his back touched the floor. Sam rested the back of his hand against Dean's forehead, noting that his brother's skin felt warmer than was generally healthy but satisfied that Dean didn't feel dangerously hot.

As Dean lay, eyes closed, waiting for Sam to return with the car, he heard the sound of something moving through the grass in his direction. Half opening his eyes he looked toward where the sound was coming from. A small grey rat was wandering towards him, nose snuffling along the floor, seemingly unaware of Dean's presence. Dean raised his arm and waffed his hand in the rat's direction, startling the animal,

"Get out of here you over grown hamster. This spot's already taken."

The rat turned and ran.

As Sam pulled up in the impala, he saw Dean flapping his hand at something, worry began to build in the pit of his stomach as he quickly climbed out of the car,

"Dean? You ok there?"

Dean raised his head and looked at his brother,

"M'fine…s'just a scrawny rat."

Sam frowned, his expression a mix of confusion and thoughtfulness,

"Which way did it go?"

Dean began to try to sit himself upright,

"How would I know? Forget it. A hand here?"

With more cursing and groaning from Dean, Sam finally managed to settle him as comfortably as he could on the back seat of the car. By the time he had covered his brother with a blanket, Dean was fighting to keep his eyes open,

"Rest up. I won't be long then we'll get your ankle fixed up."

"Where you goin'?"

"Need to finish the job Dean. I'm going to warm the place up a little."

Dean shrugged himself out of the blanket,

"M'coming with. Can't go alone. King Rat might eat you."

Sam eased Dean back down, pulling the blanket over him again,

"Actually Dean. I've got a feeling there won't be any rats this time."

"Huh?"

Well, for one, I don't think you're so afraid of rats anymore so, if you did come with me, I'm guessing we wouldn't see any."

"Huh?"

Secondly, if I'm right, what you and those kids ran into down in that basement were your own personal fears. I'm not afraid of rats, so I don't think I need to worry about them."

"But…Sam, if you _are_ right, that means the place will attack you with _your_ own fear surely?"

Sam smiled softly and leaned forward, running his fingers through his brother's hair,

"It did Dean. It did."

**END**

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Thank you for reading. Any reviews and constructive criticisms are always welcome.

Chick xx


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